Table rack



Feb. 25, 1969 HAMILTON ET AL TABLE RACK Filed March 15, 1967 INVENTORS JOHN J. HAMILTON BY CHARLES ESCHROER m, j' 1' Fig. 2

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A rack for the storage of collapsible tables, said rack having a pair of legs connected to a base structure and provided with an outwardly projecting support member for supporting the tops of a plurality of collapsible tables and for retaining the legs on said tables in fixed position on said rack.

Summary of the invention In accordance with the invention, there is provided a rack for tables of the type disclosed in the copending patent application of John J. Hamilton et al. for a C01- lapsible Table, Ser. No. 615,250, filed Feb. 10, 1967, now patent No. 3,364,884. Said rack comprises a pair of legs terminating at their lower ends in a forwardly projecting ground-engageable base. A support member is mounted on the legs intermediate their lengths and comprises a pair of forwardly projecting arms interconnected by a transverse member having a rearwardly extending recess whereby the folded table legs are receivable over said arms and in said recess. The upper ends of the legs are interconnected by a transverse member forming a carrying handle. Said handle forming member is connected to the legs by a second pair of forwardly projecting arms whereby it is disposed forwardly of said legs to provide for balanced handling and carrying of the rack.

Brief description of the drawings The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention.

In such drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a rack embodying the invention and showing in phantom lines, a collapsed table mounted thereon;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the rack shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the rack shown in FIG. 1.

Brief description of the preferred embodiment Our rack is adapted to support a plurality of collapsible tables which, upon being collapsed, have their tops lying in substantially the same plane as their legs. Thus, as shown in FIG. 1, such a table in its collapsed position comprises a rectangular top disposed above and in substantially the same vertical plane as a pair of outer legs 12 and a pair of closely spaced inner legs 14.

As shown, said rack comprises a main frame conveniently formed from a length of metal tubing and including a pair of vertical legs 15 bent forwardly intermediate their upper and lower ends, as at 16. The lower ends of said legs terminate in a pair of forwardly and inwardly bent -L-shaped feet 18, the forward inwardly extending ends of said feet forming a transverse brace 20. As shown in FIG. 1, the inner ends of the feet 18 abut each other and are interconnected by a dowel 22. Thus, said feet and the brace formed thereby constitute a broad ground-.engageable base for stably supporting the rack in an upright position.

The upper ends of the legs 15 are bent forwardly to define a pair of forwardly projecting arms 24. Said arms are joined together at their forward ends by a transverse stretch 26 forming a carrying handle for the rack. Conice veniently, a hand grip 27 is mounted on the stretch 26, as by screws 28.

A generally U-shaped support member 29, conveniently formed from a length of metal tubing, is connected to the legs 15. Said member comprises a pair of flattened ends 30 connected, as by screws 32, to the front faces of the legs 15 immediately below their forward offset 16. A pair of upwardly and inwardly angled arms 34 project forwardly from the support member ends 30 Each of said arms terminates at its forward end in a transverse inwardly extending stretch 36. The stretches 36 are interconnected at their inner ends by a rearwardly extending loop 38. A snubber 40 is mounted on the upper face of each of the stretches 36 to facilitate holding the tables on the rack as will become more apparent hereinafter.

As shown in FIG. 2, the support member arms 34, stretches 36, and loop 38 lie in the same plane which angles upwardly from the connection of the support member to the legs 15. Because of the angled configuration of the legs 15, the support member 29 and the arms 24 and handle-forming stretch 26 lie in generally parallel planes as shown in FIG. 3. This parallelism, coupled with forwardly projecting base structure, provides the rack with a weight distribution such that it can be easily carried in a balanced condition with a plurality of tables retained thereon.

The tables are placed in the rack in front to rear stacked relation by sliding them inwardly on the support member 29 with the lower edges of their tops resting thereon. As each table is slid inwardly on said member, its inner legs 14 are received in the loop 38 and its outer legs 12 are received against the outer faces of the arms 34, the inward angles of said arms facilitating the reception of the table legs 12 on the support member. Because of its upwardly angled orientation, the tables will be retained at the rear of the support member, and the snubbers 40 on the support stretches 36, which project upwardly above the lower edges of the table tops, will tend to prevent the tables from accidentally sliding off the front end of said support member.

We claim:

1. A rack for the storage of collapsible tables, comprising a pair of generally vertical legs terminating at their lower ends in a forwardly and inwardly extending base engageable with the ground throughout its extent, the upper ends of said legs terminating in forwardly projecting handle-forming means, and a forwardly projecting support member interconnecting said legs intermediate their lengths, said support member having a rearwardly projecting, forwardly open recess intermediate its ends.

2. A rack for the storage of collapsible tables, comprising a pair of legs connected at their lower ends to a ground-engageable base, handle-forming means at the upper ends of said legs, and a forwardly projecting support member connected to said legs intermediate their lengths, said support member comprising a pair of arms projecting forwardly from said legs, a pair of transverse stretches extending inwardly from the forward ends of said arms, and a rearwardly projecting loop interconnecting the inner ends of said transverse stretches and forming a rearwardly projecting, forwardly open recess intermediate the ends of said support member.

3. A rack as set forth in claim 2 in which said pair of arms angle inwardly from said legs.

4. A rack as set forth in claim 2 with the addition that upwardly projecting snubbers are mounted on said transverse stretches.

5. A rack for the storage of collapsible tables, comprising a pair of generally vertical legs forwardly offset intermediate their upper and lower ends, a forwardly projecting ground-engageable base interconnecting said 3 4 legs at the lower ends thereof, forwardly projecting han- References "Cited dle-forming means interconnecting said legs at the upper UNITED STATES PATENTS ends thereof, and a forwardly projecting support member interconnecting said legs intermediate their lengths, said 2,676,709 4/1954 Walsh 211 27 support member havingarearwardly projecting, forwardly 5 522$:

open recess intermediate its ends.

6. A rack as set forth in claim 5 in which said handleforming means and support member lie in parallel planes CHANCELLOR HARRIS Primary Exammer' angling upwardly from their connections to said legs, and U 8 Q X R said legs angle forwardly from their connection to said 10 base. 108-91; 224-45 

